With the announcement that Hudson’s Bay is set to close in all but six locations in Canada, questions are being asked about the gaps in not only physical space, but the needs of shoppers it is leaving behind.
Five Hudson’s Bay location in Ottawa will close at Bayshore Shopping Centre, on Rideau Street, St. Laurent Shopping Centre, Place d’Orleans and Les Promenades Gatineau.
“Bayshore area has got a lot of families, they need good shopping,” says Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh.
“I hope that’s taken into strong consideration, not just the people that drive here, but the people who walk here.”
At Bayshore Shopping Centre, the retailer occupies three floors of space, with similar footprints at Ottawa’s other malls. Kavanagh says residents were pleased when Walmart moved into the west end mall and hopes more options for necessities become available.
“Maybe another food store will come in and take up one of the floors. That would be very helpful because this area’s going to expand. We’re going to see four towers come in here just west of that mall,” she said.
Retail analyst Bruce Winder expects the square footage left by The Bay to be shared by any incoming businesses, with options such as local retailers, car dealerships and condominiums all on the table.
“I don’t anticipate one giant retailer is going to come in and take all the space,” Winder tells CTV News. “I think what malls will have to do, depending on the mall, is divide up the space.”
Winder says a big reason the retailer failed to survive in 2025 was the generational dive between shoppers that frequented The Bay.
“If you’re a baby boomer or an older Gen X-er, you have a fairly high affinity with the bay because you grew up shopping at it. If you’re a younger Gen X-er, a millennial, or a Gen Z, you really don’t have that affinity. You don’t shop that way anymore,” he said.
“Younger folks, I think, are interested in the Bay and curious about it but they just won’t have the same affinity based on lived experience as the older generations.”
On Saturday, shoppers at Bayshore were interested to grab their final items from the iconic retailer before liquidation begins on Monday.
“Usually, I just use it to get into the mall. So don’t go really shopping there,” said shopper Maria Cheinova.
“I feel like it’s pretty big and it’s easy to get lost. We were just coming out and we were confused by all the entrances and everything.”
St. Laurent shopper Ken Hartley added, “I guess because it’s been around for so long, we’ve been around for a while too, so we liked it.”
No plans for the upcoming vacant space have been announced at this early stage, but Kavanagh is already considering the Bayshore store’s future.
“Perhaps the next step is to attract places that people will get on the Stage 2 LRT and come here for, because this is going to be a station.”
